This week the Central Bank announced that the accumulated inflation rate until July, measured by the variations in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) against the figure for December 1995, reached 1.15%, less than that registered in the same period for 1995, which was 4.4%. The annual inflation rate, measured in the same manner for the last 12 months, went down from 12.32% in July of 1995 to 5.81% in July of 1996. These figures show that in July there was a reduction in the rate of price increases, when compared to the same period in the previous year. The monthly variation in the CPI from June to July 1996 was 0.26%. The variation in the CPI in July 1996, by groups of goods and services, evidences that the foodstuffs, beverages and tobacco cost 0.19% more, housing was up by 0.26%, clothing by 0.10% and other items by 0.50%.